10-worst-jobs

Pick your career poison: temporary Google database admin vs. IODA intern

Nicholas Carlson · 06/10/08 06:40PM

The last matchup in this round of our worst-job tournament: temporary database administrator for Google, contracted through WorkforceLogic, vs. content acquisition intern, IODA. Given the compensation disparity between these jobs — IODA doesn't pay its interns, while WorkforceLogic reportedly pay database admins as much as $70,000 — it seems like a no-brainer. Remember, though, just because WorkforceLogic will deploy you to the Googleplex, that doesn't mean you'll ever be a real Googler. Not to the Stanford and Harvard grads munching on their Bacon Krispy Kreme burgers. At least at IODA, you'll deserve the scorn heaped on you by the paid wage slaves. Pick the worse fate, below.

Pick your career poison: Facebook user operations analyst vs. MySpace customer support specialist

Nicholas Carlson · 06/09/08 05:40PM

He won't sell, but can Mark Zuckerberg successfully carry Facebook through to an IPO? That's what the latest matchup in our tournament to find tech's worst entry-level job comes down to. Otherwise, the key responsibilities for Facebook's user operations analysts and MySpace customer support specialists are very similar. Even the pay is roughly the same. A tipster tells us Facebook pays its customer service reps $34,500 per year — though that number might be higher now that Facebook stopped handing $600/mo. housing subsidies. Readers figure MySpace pays $37,000. So what's it going to be? The slightly lower-paying job at the risky startup with higher upside or a gig at News Corp.'s shiniest Web toy? Vote in our poll below.

Pick your career poison: Part-time Mahalo guide vs. Pete Cashmore's personal assistant

Nicholas Carlson · 06/06/08 06:20PM

The class of 2008 has already begun to realize the tragedy of actually having to work for a living. Cheer up, kiddos; it could be worse. You could be employed, part-time, cutting and pasting Google search results for Jason Calacanis's Mahalo. Or you could serve as Mashable CEO Pete Cashmore's personal assistant — the entry-level gigs facing off in our third matchup to determine the worst job in tech. Vote below.

Pick your career poison: Microsoft customer support vs. Yahoo finance intern

Nicholas Carlson · 06/04/08 05:20PM

Its time for the second match in our single-elimination tournament to find the worst entry-level job in tech. In our first poll, the drudgery of working as a Google online sales and operations manager narrowly edged out the perils of being an Amazon.com support engineer, 53 percent to 47 percent. Today's contest: Getting paid by Microsoft to take angry calls from Vista users all day, vs. fetching coffee in Yahoo's finance operations. Making the contest even harder: If Carl Icahn has his way, both might soon find their paychecks signed by Microsoft CFO Chris Liddell. Vote below.

Guess how much tech's 10 worst jobs pay

Nicholas Carlson · 05/27/08 07:00PM

To come up with the estimated pay for tech's 10 worst entry-level jobs we spoke to former and current employees, HR reps and friends of friends working these jobs. But still, some of our commenters expressed disbelief over the salary estimates. "80 grand for an entry level job? Time to apply and kick those whiney losers out! Let's see how they feel about their new job bagging groceries at the Safeway," wrote mwbeeler. Loakim said:

Tech's 10 worst entry-level jobs

Nicholas Carlson · 05/20/08 09:00PM

Soon America's most bright-eyed graduates will enter the workforce and make their workaday homes in cubes at Google, MySpace, or Amazon.com. And they will suffer not just the indignity of having to work for a living, but also the dispiriting realization that a job at a cool company isn't always that hot. These employers, and the others hiring for tech's 10 worst entry-level jobs, listed below, will look spiffy on a resume someday, but for now the only good these jobs promise the world is the pleasant feeling you and I can share knowing we're not the ones stuck in them.